Financial Counselors Inc. Lowers Stock Holdings in Exelon Co. (NASDAQ:EXC)

Financial Counselors Inc. cut its stake in shares of Exelon Co. (NASDAQ:EXC) by 3.2% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 58,915 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,938 shares during the quarter. Financial Counselors Inc.’s holdings in Exelon were worth $2,218,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Millstone Evans Group LLC purchased a new position in Exelon during the 4th quarter worth $28,000. Stephens Consulting LLC grew its position in shares of Exelon by 78.1% during the 4th quarter. Stephens Consulting LLC now owns 782 shares of the company’s stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 343 shares in the last quarter. Brown Lisle Cummings Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Exelon during the fourth quarter valued at $30,000. Crews Bank & Trust bought a new stake in shares of Exelon in the fourth quarter valued at about $34,000. Finally, Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC lifted its stake in Exelon by 119.6% in the fourth quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC now owns 942 shares of the company’s stock worth $35,000 after acquiring an additional 513 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 80.92% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Exelon

In other Exelon news, EVP Colette D. Honorable sold 1,463 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $40.57, for a total value of $59,353.91. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 2,271 shares in the company, valued at approximately $92,134.47. This represents a 39.18 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. 0.10% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have commented on the stock. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on shares of Exelon from $46.00 to $48.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 20th. Scotiabank boosted their price objective on shares of Exelon from $42.00 to $44.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Evercore ISI upgraded Exelon from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $43.00 to $44.00 in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. Barclays upped their price target on Exelon from $42.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 25th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Exelon in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $45.13.

Exelon Stock Up 0.5 %

Shares of EXC stock opened at $44.25 on Friday. Exelon Co. has a fifty-two week low of $34.01 and a fifty-two week high of $45.20. The firm has a market capitalization of $44.67 billion, a PE ratio of 18.06, a P/E/G ratio of 2.86 and a beta of 0.51. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.61, a quick ratio of 0.78 and a current ratio of 0.87. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $42.40 and its 200-day simple moving average is $40.09.

Exelon (NASDAQ:EXC) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The company reported $0.64 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.59 by $0.05. Exelon had a net margin of 10.68% and a return on equity of 9.52%. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.60 EPS. Equities analysts expect that Exelon Co. will post 2.64 earnings per share for the current year.

Exelon Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 14th. Investors of record on Monday, February 24th were given a dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 24th. This is an increase from Exelon’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.38. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.62%. Exelon’s payout ratio is currently 65.31%.

Exelon Profile

Exelon Corporation, a utility services holding company, engages in the energy distribution and transmission businesses in the United States and Canada. The company is involved in the purchase and regulated retail sale of electricity and natural gas, transmission and distribution of electricity, and distribution of natural gas to retail customers.